ioneer to buy Caterpillar autonomous haul trucks for planned Nevada lithium-boron mine
Caterpillar’s autonomous mining trucks have hauled nearly 5Bt of material worldwide.
Emerging lithium-boron supplier ioneer (ASX: INR) has finalised its agreement with Caterpillar, the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, to acquire the Cat MineStar Command autonomous haul system.
This will see the company, from 2024, using a fleet of 140-tonne Cat 785 next generation mining trucks equipped with Command for hauling.
That fleet is expected to expand “significantly” in 2028, says ioneer.
All support equipment will feature the latest MineStar technology with its high-precision GPS and real-time analytics, which ioneer says will maximise efficiency and accuracy in material loading.
First North American greenfield mine to use new haulage system
ioneer owns the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project located in Nevada, US, which is the only known lithium-boron deposit in North America and one of only two known such deposits in the world.
The company has said previously it is expecting to be the lowest cost lithium producer in the world once its Nevada lithium-boron project in Nevada gets into production.
Rhyolite Ridge will be the first greenfield operation in North America to use Caterpillar’s autonomous haulage system. This agreement follows a memorandum of understanding between ioneer and Caterpillar concluded in February.
Deal worth around US$100m
The agreement covering equipment, technology and services for the first five years of operation is valued at about US$100 million (A$149 million).
Cat autonomous mining trucks have so far hauled 5 billion tonnes of material worldwide more than a total 177 million kilometres without any lost-time injuries.
ioneer has lithium offtake agreements with Ford Motor and battery makers PPES (a Toyota-Panasonic joint venture) and South Korea’s EcoPro.
The company earlier commissioned French-owned Veolia Water Technologies for major engineering design and equipment.
ioneer expects not only to be the world’s lowest cost lithium producer, but also to become one of the first of the operating ‘major’ lithium suppliers in the US — and located close to emerging battery megafactories.
The mine is expected to come onstream in 2025.